Getting started with your Second Nature programme

👋 Welcome to Second Nature!

You’ve been referred to our Weight Management Service (WMS) Level 1 programme to support you with improving your weight and overall health.

This programme is designed to help you build sustainable lifestyle habits, focusing on nutrition, physical activity, and behaviour change. Everything is delivered through the app, so you can work through the content at your own pace, in a way that fits around your life.

This service does not include a dedicated health coach, but you’ll have access to structured educational articles, tracking tools, and peer support communities within the app. You’ll also retain lifetime access to the app content.

Please note: As this is a digital-only programme, no physical welcome pack or equipment (such as smart scales or recipe books) will be sent. Any standard bathroom scales will work, and you can manually enter your weight into the app.

If you haven’t already, you can download the Second Nature mobile app here:

3. Enter the same email address that you used when you signed up.

After that, tap ‘Next’,

4. Click I'll sign in with a password

5. If you’re not sure what your password is, no worries - just tap ‘Forgot password?’ and you’ll get an email with the steps to reset it.

Once you’re logged in, you’re ready to get started.

At the bottom of the app, you’ll see four icons: Today, Track, Chat, and Toolbox. These are the main buttons you’ll use to navigate the app. Let's walk through each one!

The Today page is your home for daily tasks, lessons, and habits. Each day, you’ll see what’s planned for you. It updates automatically to the current day, so you always know what to focus on. Completing tasks here helps you track your progress step by step.

You can also access the Settings from the Today page. Just tap the profile icon in the top right corner and select Settings. Here you can:

- Change the programme article language

- Update your preferred weight unit from kg, stone, or pounds

You’ll also find your privacy settings here. Allowing you to choose whether your location, bio, weight progress, and interests are visible only to you, your group, or everyone.

The app will automatically stay logged in for you to easily access and open each day. However, if you'd like to log out you can do so from the Settings page.

Habits are the small daily actions we can take to build a healthy lifestyle, like going for a morning walk, or drinking a glass of water when you wake up.

You can track your habits in the app using our tracker. You can choose whether you'd like to do this habit every day or just on certain days of the week.

Once you set a habit, it will last for 12 weeks (after which it will disappear), and you can tick it off each day on the Today page. But if you miss a day, don’t worry - you can also click on past dates and mark them as done retrospectively.

You can also create your own personalised habits if the app doesn’t already include the ones you want to focus on. This way, the programme works around your lifestyle and goals, rather than the other way around.

At the bottom of the Today page, you’ll find your weight and steps summary.

From here, you can:

- Change your weight goal and track your progress towards it

- Adjust your daily step target to suit your routine. It can be as low or as high as you like, what matters most is that it feels achievable and works for you.

And right at the bottom, you can explore the Stories section, where you can read real experiences from other Second Nature members. We’ll post a question, and you’re welcome to share your own story or simply browse for a bit of motivation and inspiration.

Next up is the Track page - this is where you can log your weight and step readings.

Throughout the programme, the NHS asks for three official weight readings at set points between weeks 3-5, weeks 6-8, and weeks 8-12. Don’t worry, we’ll send reminders in the app and by email when it’s time, so you’ll know exactly when to record your reading.

You’re also welcome to weigh in as often as you like outside of these three points.

If you don’t have scales, you can use those available at local pharmacies or GP centres and record the results manually in the app.

Here are some guides on how to add/delete readings manually:

You can also sync your personal tracker if you have one.

The Second Nature app currently supports data syncing from either Apple Health or Google Fit, depending on whether the device you're using is Apple or Android

If you sync your tracker data to Apple Health or Google Fit, our app will be able to retrieve the data from there. For more guidance on this, click here.

You’ll be placed in a group chat with others on the same programme. Your group is a great source of encouragement and accountability.

To introduce yourself:

If you have a technical issue or need help with the app, you can contact customer support by scrolling to the bottom of the chat page and clicking ‘Speak to customer support’

You can either send us a message or search for your answer in our help centre articles.

To avoid overwhelming you early on, support communities become available from week 4 of your programme. These are led by registered nutritionists and cover topics such as:

To join a community from week 4:

To ask a question:

The Toolbox page is where you can find lots of different resources to help you along the way.

Firstly, you can find all of your programme articles. So if you ever miss a day, you can simply head to the Toolbox and catch up on any previous days or weeks at your own pace.

The Prepare phase takes place the week before your programme officially starts - we call this Week 0.

During this week, there are some articles for you to read through. These will help you understand more about the programme and give you an idea of what to expect in the weeks ahead.

You can find the Prepare section by clicking on the Toolbox > Core programme > Prepare for the programme, and then clicking into each one.

After the Prepare phase, you’ll move on to the Core phase starting in Week 1.

You’ll find this listed just below the Prepare articles in the Toolbox. Each week, six articles will unlock day by day. And if you’d rather listen than read, you also have the option to play an audio version of each article.

If any articles stand out and you’d like to come back to them later, just click the ‘Save’ heart at the top. These will then appear in your Saved Articles list, making it easy to find them again whenever you need.

You'll find over 400 recipes in the Toolbox. You can add them to your weekly meal planner, save your favourites for later, or even share them with friends and family. Many recipes also include helpful video demonstrations.

There’s a handy Cooking Mode too, just under the recipe name, which keeps your screen awake while you follow the steps.

Any recipes you save will appear under the Saved recipes tab, making them easy to find whenever you need them. Just press the little heart under the recipe title.

Then we have the meal planner. You can use the meal planner to schedule your breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for the week. You can either let the auto-generate feature create a plan using Second Nature recipes, or you can swap in any meals you prefer. You can even create your own recipes and add them directly to your planner.

Once your meal plan has been created, you'll be able to access it from either the Today page or the Toolbox.

Here’s a helpful guide on making the most of the meal planner:

The food diary function within the app allows you to keep a daily record of your food/fluid intake.

If you've eaten a meal from your meal planner, you can simply select 'I ate this' in the meal planner tool, which will automatically upload to your Food diary.

Here's a guide on how to use this tool:

We’re so excited for you to get started! The programme is designed to be flexible, supportive, and rooted in science. Whether you're looking to improve your health, change your habits, or better understand your nutrition - we're here to help every step of the way.